Kerry Bringhurst

News Director | Host, Morning Edition

At 14-years-old, Kerry began working as a reporter for KVEL “The Hot One” in Vernal, Utah. Her radio news interests led her to Logan where she became news director for KBLQ while attending Utah State University. She graduated USU with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and spent the next few years working for Utah Public Radio. Leaving UPR in 1993 she spent the next 14 years as the full time mother of four boys before returning in 2007. Kerry and her husband Boyd reside in Nibley.

Ways To Connect

A national report released by the non-profit health consumers organization, Families USA, shows the majority of Americans with individual health coverage will qualify for premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.

“The overwhelming majority of people with private, individual health insurance today will soon be able to receive better coverage and pay lower premiums due to the Affordable Care Act,” said Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack.

Approximately 15.2 million people – 5.7 percent of the non-elderly population – receive their health coverage through private, individual (non-group) health plans. Pollack said a portion of this group has become the center of a controversy about whether or not Americans can keep their health coverage under the ACA.

Stored in the Fife Folklore Archives on the Utah State University campus are seven boxes containing information and oral history recordings from 39 members of Cache Community Connections. Among those recordings are comments from long time Utah Public Radio friend and member Jack Keller who spoke about his years volunteering with the Northern Utah religious and civic community organization.

Craig Petersen was elected Logan City Mayor on Tuesday, beating incumbent Randy Watts 2,504 to 2,100 votes. In his new position, Petersen said he plans to begin reviewing city policies and procedures.

"I went from conducting a campaign to being mayor-elect overnight," said Peterson. "It's kind of an abrupt transition to realize it really happened."

Petersen’s campaign platform focused on plans to improve the quality of life of those living in Logan. Reducing traffic congestion, revising city policies to make them more business friendly, and addressing sidewalk and rental issues are matters Petersen said he will address now that he has been elected.

Drivers to and from Cache Valley who access Sardine Canyon through Brigham City have until Monday to make the trip without construction delay. The Utah Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin a major reconstruction project on Nov. 11.

National Park Service employees in Grand County are winterizing park campgrounds and trails after an unusual 2013 fall season. The financial costs of the unexpected partial shutdown of the Federal Government in October are still being felt by communities that cater to tourists.

It is estimated Utah suffered a loss of $30 million in tourism money. The impact of the closure is still being felt by employees of the state's national parks who are trying to catch up on work that piled up during the shutdown.

In 1913 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints became the first organization in the nation to establish boy scout troops. Tuesday night Utah’s largest religious denomination held a celebration honoring the partnership between the LDS Church and a service program that has touched the lives of millions of boys.

The LDS Church marked the centennial with a stage spectacular where members of the Boys Scouts of America repelled from the rafters of the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City. Rope courses and fire outlook stations were constructed to accommodate the cast.

Preparations are underway for a traditional festival in Grand County. Moab’s 8th Annual Pumpkin’ Chuckin’ Festival on Saturday, Oct. 26, will feature the traditional community faire of food, music, and games. Unlike other family friendly events, this one will also include the tossing, smashing, and flinging of a popular seasonal squash - the pumpkin.

“We are going to have a ton of kid’s activities," said Delite Primus, Executive Director of Moab’s Youth Garden Project. "There is so much out here for kids to do."

Daniel and Bunny McArthur tell the story of their experiences in childbirth. Then, after the youngest of 6 children was in kindergarten, Bunny decided to finish college- at the same time as 3 of her children.

Mike Empey speaks with his friend Glenn Rogers about what he has learned as a member of the Shivwits Band of Paiutes. Rogers remembers spending his early years getting an education in a small community where he was a minority. He continues to work with Paiute Indians to help educate and improve the quality of life on the reservation.

The children of Hilda and Leo Bringhurst share stories of growing up in Toquerville, Utah between 1930 and the 1950’s. Luzon, Wayne, and Antone Bringhurst remember working on the family farm and reading with their mother.

A new report lists 12 destinations as "Too Wild to Drill" for oil and gas, for their proximity to national parks and wilderness areas. Compiled by The Wilderness Society, it includes Arches National Park near Moab and the Desolation Canyon area near Vernal.

Oil and gas companies already have leased more than 38-million acres of public land, and a new report says there's no need for them to target other parcels that adjoin national parks and areas with wilderness, historic and recreation values.

As the debate over the purpose and programs in a new 500-billion-dollar farm bill drags on in Congress, a survey of people in rural areas shows most believe the federal government isn't paying much attention to their needs.

A poll commissioned by the Center for Rural Affairs says eight out of 10 rural voters believe the feds ought to be backing infrastructure projects to revitalize small towns, investing in better water and sewer systems, roads, and bridges.

What has become one of Southern Utah’s favorite yearly events, the country music showdown, takes place tonight in St. George. Debuting will be a song written by a mother and son team promoting their community.

“The sun does shine most of the time here, so if you like rain, this isn’t the place to live,” Kevin Fry said.

Seeholzer left his real job working for Thiokol to dedicate his time to his love – a family-owned ski resort in Northern Utah’s Logan Canyon. Beaver Mountain is known as the place where the locals ski. When you ski the beave, you are adopted into a community, a family that lifts your spirits while lifting you to that next run.

The ironclad superhero flies through the sky, builds his own weapons and saves the world. He's known around the US as Iron Man.

But St. George recognizes the word differently than a three-part movie series. The Southern Utah city holds a competition every year called Ironman 70.3.

On May 4 the triathlon and the release of Iron Man 3 coincided perfectly. While participants stood in the registration line, a burgundy banner posted in the background advertised the release of the new movie.

The Board of Directors of the Cache Valley Center for the Arts (CVCA) is pleased to announce the appointment of James D. Kreutzberg as its Executive Director beginning July 1, 2013. The selection was made from among more than twenty applicants who responded to a nationwide search. His appointment is made necessary by the retirement of Wally Bloss, who has successfully led CVCA for more than eight years.

March has been a month of big changes for energy developers in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. The Interior Department has amended some of its land-use plans for leasing to oil shale and tar sands developers, and proposed higher royalty rates and stricter air and water protections.

National and international representatives from the airline industry are gathering in St. George Friday and Saturday for a racing event that will mix fun and fundraising.

UPR’s Kerry Bringhurst is in Southern Utah. She spoke with St. George City Administrator Marc Mortensen about the Mini-Indy 2013 go-kart race being held to help “Turbo Boost” fund raising efforts to benefit United Way Dixie and the SkyWest Scholarship fund.

It is estimated that most American households throw away about 40 percent of the food they buy. Experts say smarter food shopping and planning can help address not only what Utah families spend on groceries, but the larger issues of world hunger and the growing global demand for food.

All three Cache Valley High School basketball teams are advancing to the state championship semi-finals. Logan, Mountain Crest, and Skyview won their respective games Thursday.

Skyview began the series of northern Utah wins by defeating Olympus 62-57. Then, the Logan Grizzlies defeated East High in a 66-62 upset. The Mustangs of Mountain Crest defeated Herriman 52-47 Thursday.

Logan and Mountain Crest face off tonight (Friday) at 5:45 in Pgden. Mountain Crest won both regular season games against Logan and captured the Region 5 title.

Robert Gillies is a part of the team that has created this program that predicts when inversions will take place, weeks in advance. Gillies and the Utah Climate Center use the climate data and input it into the model that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association runs, to predict inversions before they happen, based on weather patterns from around the world.

When the Utah Legislature convenes later this month, one topic to be debated is whether to enact a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-wage workers. The number of Utah families using the federal EITC has been climbing, but previous attempts to create a state EITC have failed. Comments are from two staff members at Voices for Utah Children: Tracy Gruber, policy analyst; and Allison Rowland, director of budget and research.